I've had my elegance for about 3-4 weeks now. For the first two weeks it was open fully and looked great. Now for the last two weeks it hasn't opened at all. During the day it starts to come out but never does. My params are all in check and have been for the longest time, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate all 0, CA 480, Alk 9 MG 1280. It's sitting on the sand bed in a low flow area. All of my other corals are doing great, SPS, frogspawn, duncans, acans, all growing just fine. Any one have any ideas. Here's a before and after pic.

My params are all in check and have been for the longest time, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate all 0, CA 480, Alk 9 MG 1280. It's sitting on the sand bed in a low flow area. All of my other corals are doing great, SPS, frogspawn, duncans, acans, all growing just fine.

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There's your problem. Elegance corals come from very, very dirty water, and actually require a higher nitrate level than most other commonly kept corals would tolerate (20+ ppm). Also, the water isn't just low flow in their natural habitat, it's nearly still.

To put it in perspective: these guys used to (20+ years ago) be really easy to keep, so much so they were considered the single easiest coral. Then aquarium advances in skimmers, lighting and filtration made them hard to keep, since people didn't have systems that were technologically limited to tailoring for them anymore.

My elegance has been in nitrate zero water for about 9 months and is really doing well. It's an australian coral, and I think they have better chances than most? Another thing that may have happened is that crabs have crawled over the colony and damaged it, which happened to my torch a while back.

My elegance has been in nitrate zero water for about 9 months and is really doing well. It's an australian coral, and I think they have better chances than most? Another thing that may have happened is that crabs have crawled over the colony and damaged it, which happened to my torch a while back.

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It wouldn't be crabs as I don't have any. My hermits went on a snail killing spree so since then I've steered away from them.

How much flow do you have them in? Mine prefers low flow...I keep my nitrates at 10 in my reef because i've actually noticed better coral growth in that environment...i hear the opposite all the time, but the proof is in the tank..lol BTW I have a GBTA, 3 clams, LPS and SPS all in my tank doing terrific in that environment.

As for flow, there is a little. I mean it waved a little when it was open but it wasn't being blown around. So do you guys think I should turn off my skimmer for awhile and maybe let the nitrates rise a little?

I never knew this about elegance. I always knew that it was considered "hard" to keep but I never knew why.
Just a thought, try placing it in a more shaded area and make sure that nothing is picking on it esp. members of your CUC.

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